Ministry of Defence

Maritime Update

Grant Shapps: I would like to provide an update on the maritime security situation in the Red Sea. Global trade relies on the free flow of commerce around the world, free from intimidation and malice. The UK has been at the forefront of ensuring freedom of navigation around the world; this is rooted in our history and our belief in the rules-based order that provides opportunity for all. In recent weeks we have seen an escalation in attacks against innocent maritime shipping in the Red Sea, with 14 ships being attacked so far. These not only pose a risk to life of the merchant sailors onboard, but are also a clear menace to global commerce. It must not be the case that small groups hold international trade hostage through their hostile acts. Houthi capabilities include anti-ship ballistic missiles, capable of sinking ships and killing crew. This has international ramifications and we should be clear-eyed about the risks to life, regional economics and global prosperity. Unprovoked Houthi attacks are having a major impact, with a number of shipping companies already announcing a pause on passage through the Red Sea. More than 10% of the world's merchant vessels pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, including tankers carrying much of the UK’s supply of liquefied natural gas. Around 50 large merchant ships each day pass through this channel. This is a critical artery for the world’s trade. These Houthi attacks could result in rising oil prices, a stranglehold on international commerce and increasing costs that will affect the whole international community, as well as the flagrant and intolerable risk to human life. The recent attack on the Red Ensign ‘MV Swan Atlantic’ demonstrates the seriousness of the issue. This an international problem that requires an international solution. Houthi maritime attacks will continue without a clear international response. It is in the interests of the global economy that we work with allies and partners to address this unacceptable situation. I am proud that the UK has joined with key international allies in Operation PROSPERITY GUARDIAN, a US led international operation established to protect freedom of navigation throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Following my instructions, HMS DIAMOND has deployed to the area and has already shot down a UAV as part of this endeavour. This is the first surface-to-air engagement by a UK Royal Navy vessel since 1991. We will not stand idly by when the prosperity of us all is at risk. HMS LANCASTER is also in the region to assist.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS Workforce Update

Victoria Atkins: After seven weeks of constructive negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) Specialist, Associate Specialist, and Specialty (SAS) Committee, I am pleased to inform the House that, on Saturday 16 December, I made a formal reform-based offer that the BMA SAS Committee have agreed to put to their members for a vote.No strikes will be called by these doctors whilst the deal is being put to members.SAS doctors are a vital part of the NHS. They focus predominantly on providing direct patient care by providing clinical expertise in their specialist area and taking responsibility for a full range of patients within their area of practice, making them essential to our efforts to cut waiting lists and deliver the highest quality service to patients.In 2021, the Government agreed a multi-year deal with the BMA SAS Committee. If accepted, this offer will address the unintended imbalances in the pay scales for these doctors on the 2021 contract and pre-2021 contracts to ensure consistency and fairness across the workforce, speed up the delivery of some of the key objectives of the 2021 deal – such as the rollout of the new specialist grade – and encourage more existing doctors to take up the new contracts which offer modernised terms and conditions.The offer includes plans to set up a £5 million funding pot to encourage and support NHS employers to create more permanent specialist roles where there is a need. This will fund a significant increase in the number of specialist doctors, improving patient care and access, and create further opportunities for doctors to progress in their careers.A joint piece of work will also be undertaken to consider how Locally Employed Doctors (LEDs) – doctors who are employed on local terms and conditions as opposed to national – can be better supported to progress in their careers, including the development of a potential process whereby such doctors operating at specialty level for 24 months could be transferred to a specialty contract.The Government has made further commitments on career development, including the promotion of job planning for all such doctors, developing guidance to support the career development of SAS doctors, developing guidance for employers to encourage, establish and embed Specialist roles in their organisation, and a research project to understand why Specialist roles are not being created.Both the Government and the BMA SAS Committee engaged constructively and in good faith to identify fixes and reforms that address important concerns for SAS doctors. This offer is independent of the headline pay uplift SAS doctors have already been awarded in 2023-24 through the Government’s acceptance of the independent pay review body recommendations.The BMA SAS Committee will now make arrangements to put this offer to a vote of their members in the coming weeks. I encourage them to accept this offer, and I will update the House in due course.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Next Stage in Our Long Term Plan for Housing Update

Michael Gove: This Government is committed to building more homes; more quickly, more beautifully and more sustainably. The best way to deliver is through a reformed planning system. Today we lay out our plan for reform. It is only through up-to-date local plans that local authorities can deliver for communities, protect the land and assets that matter most, and create the conditions for more homes to be delivered. Having plans in place unlocks land for homes, hospitals and GP centres, schools, power grid connections and more – laying foundations for the country’s economic growth and the levelling up of communities for decades to come.Too many local authorities have no up-to date plan, too many take too long to get their plan in place and too many plans do not deliver as they should. Even when plans are in place, too many local authorities take too long to determine applications, too many reject proposals which are in line with their policies, and officers’ recommendations, and too many fail to ensure a proper pipeline of housing delivery.Where plans are not in place, or not working effectively, communities are unprotected from speculative development. Houses still get built. But too often in inappropriate locations. Too slowly. And without the right infrastructure or community assets in place.That serves no-one well. Communities do not have control. Developers do not have certainty. Homes for the next generation do not get built at the rate, or in the locations, we need.This Government has a coherent, holistic, long-term reform programme to ensure the planning system at last delivers as it should.Today’s update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) addresses the concerns expressed by local elected representatives about weaknesses in the planning system which led to frustrations about the nature of development. It provides clearer protection for the Green Belt, clarity on how future housing supply should be assessed in plans, certainty on the responsibility of urban authorities to play their full part in meeting housing need and protections for the character of precious neighbourhoods, safeguarding the gentle density of suburbs and ensuring family homes are there for the next generation.These changes meet the clearly expressed, and wholly understandable, wishes of elected politicians of all parties to deliver for their communities. Taken alongside other changes in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, they entrench the importance of beauty in new development, facilitate the delivery of improved infrastructure, respect the democratic voice of local communities, secure enhancements to our natural environment and deliver quality new neighbourhoods.With these changes secure, there is now an added responsibility on local government to deliver. The reasons sometimes cited for resisting new development and expediting its delivery have been clearly addressed. So I am setting new expectations for faster delivery, strengthening accountability so poor performers can be better identified, taking further steps to enforce effective delivery of new housing where local authorities have failed most egregiously and putting other, failing, local authorities on notice of my intention to intervene if performance does not improve significantly.With this higher level of expectation comes additional resource. We need excellent planners, well funded and well supported, to deliver the many more beautiful new homes we need. Planning is a noble profession and its role in making our communities work for every citizen is vital. That work has not always been recognised and respected as it should. So I will provide funds to support and reward planners in local government and dedicate the very best in central government to work with them to deliver.Our approach to planning is of a piece with the broader approach my department has taken to local government. We have listened sensitively to elected representatives, we have given them more of the powers and freedom they have requested. But with that greater freedom comes greater accountability. Where failure occurs, we intervene more quickly and decisively. Where failure risks compromising the national interest, we intervene more comprehensively. We will provide additional resource to support vital professional leaders on the front line. We will champion their good practice, not least through our new watchdog Oflog, but we will also demand that all aspire to reach the standard of the best.With both the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act and the new NPPF now in place, alongside the additional resources for planning departments I am announcing today, our planning reforms will accelerate the delivery of new homes. We are on track to deliver one million homes this Parliament, in line with our manifesto commitment. Our reforms will also strengthen our ability to meet our target of 300,000 additional homes a year. The next generation need those homes built. Future generations need to know the developments we build for them will be beautiful and will endure. And they want the natural environment enhanced to match a better built environment. That is what we will deliver.National Planning Policy Framework   The NPPF is the backbone of the planning system – it sets the Framework within which local authorities, the planning inspectorate and applicants to the system must operate. Plans must take the Framework into account, and it is a material consideration for decisions. This makes it fundamental to the delivery of new housing in the right places, while also protecting and enhancing the things we care most about: our environment, heritage assets, our high streets and beyond.In December 2022, I launched a consultation on changes to the NPPF. We received 26,000 responses and have considered them carefully. In summary, the new NPPF will: facilitate flexibility for local authorities in relation to local housing need; clarify a local lock on any changes to Green Belt boundaries; safeguard local plans from densities that would be wholly out of character; free local authorities with up-to-date local plans from annual updates to their five-year housing land supply; limit the practice of housing need being exported to neighbouring authorities without mutual agreement; bolster protections from speculative development for neighbourhoods that develop their own plans; support self-build, custom-build and community-led housing; and cement the role of beauty and placemaking in the planning system.There is now no excuse for local authorities not rapidly adopting ambitious plans. The more plans adopted quickly, the more homes delivered quickly - and we have created the right incentives for rapid plan adoption.The updated NPPF published today contains and should be referred to for the policy changes described in this statement. The full suite of changes are detailed in the Government’s consultation response, but the principal changes are set out here.The Purpose of Planning   The opening chapters of the NPPF have been updated to provide clarity on a core purpose of the planning system: planning for homes and other development that our communities need. It is also clear that having up-to-date plans in place is a priority in meeting this objective. All the following changes in the Framework reflect this fundamental purpose and priority.Local Housing Need  The standard method for assessing Local Housing Need ensures that plan-making is informed by an unconstrained assessment of the number of homes needed, in a way which addresses projected household growth and affordability pressures; alongside an efficient process for establishing housing requirement figures in local plans.These figures have, however, sometimes been difficult to achieve in some areas and blind to the exceptional characteristics of a local community. That is why the new NPPF makes clear that the outcome of the standard method is an advisory starting point in plan making for establishing the housing requirements for an area. Some local authorities may wish to deliver more homes. Where a local authority considers the number unachievable, it must provide robust evidence for that judgement. The revised NPPF provides clarity on what may constitute such exceptional circumstances for using an alternative method to assess housing need, including the particular demographic characteristics of an area, which could include those that may result from the unique nature of islands. Any assessment will be subject to examination as usual.The Government also considered allowing authorities to take account of past ‘over-delivery’ when preparing new plans. Having considered responses to the consultation, which raised questions over needing to also consider ‘under-delivery’ and the risk of double counting homes via the standard method, we are not proceeding with this change at this time.Green Belt This Government is committed to protecting the Green Belt. Planning policy already includes strong protections to safeguard Green Belt for future generations. The Green Belt is vital for preventing urban sprawl and encroachment on valued countryside. England’s cities are already less dense than those of most of our European neighbours. That is environmentally wasteful and economically inefficient. We seek to support the gentle densification of urban areas in preference to the erosion of Green Belt land. That is why the Government is ensuring it is clear there is generally no requirement on local authorities to review or alter Green Belt boundaries if this would be the only way to meet housing need. Where a relevant local planning authority chooses to conduct a review, existing national policy will continue to expect that Green Belt boundaries are only altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, and this should only be through the preparation or updating of plans.The Government is making no changes to the rules that govern what can and cannot be built on land that is Green Belt, but we are clarifying in guidance where brownfield development in the Green Belt can occur provided the openness of Green Belt is not harmed. I understand that the Opposition has advocated this as if it would be a new approach, suggesting a misunderstanding of existing policy, which the Government is therefore happy to make even clearer in practice guidance.Character   This Government believes in heritage, beauty and community. It is important that the character of an existing area is respected by new development, particularly in the historic suburbs of our great towns and cities. The new NPPF therefore recognises that there may be situations where significant uplifts in residential densities would be inappropriate as they would be wholly out of character with the existing area, and that this may in turn affect how much development can be planned for in the area concerned. This will apply where there is a design code which is adopted or will be adopted as part of the local plan.Exporting Housing Need  The standard method was amended in 2020 to include an uplift in need for the 20 most populated English cities and urban centres. This urban uplift supports the Government’s objectives, as outlined above, to make the best use of previously developed land and locate more homes in our larger towns and cities, where development can help to reduce the need to travel and contribute to productivity, regeneration and levelling up. The updated NPPF now makes clear that this uplift should, be accommodated within those cities and urban centres concerned rather than exported to surrounding areas – except where there is a voluntary cross-boundary agreement to do so, or where this would conflict with other policies in the NPPF. This complements the repeal of the duty to cooperate through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act which will shortly come into effect.Five-year Housing Land Supply  Up-to-date local plans ensure local communities are in control of where and what development happens in their area. They are key to getting more homes built in the right places. Where such plans are in place, the Government is committed to protecting local authorities from unwarranted speculative development.The Government considers an up-to-date plan to be a plan that is less than five years old, and which contained a deliverable five-year supply of land at conclusion of its examination. All planning authorities are required to maintain a five-year supply of land to ensure homes and wider developments are built in the right places. However, authorities have previously been required to update this supply annually in a process that was burdensome and provided too many opportunities for speculative development.We are now changing this and removing the requirement for planning authorities that have done the right thing and put an up-to-date plan in place to update annually their five-year supply of land. This change provides these authorities with additional protection from the presumption in favour of sustainable development. I am also fully removing the 5% and 10% buffers that could be applied to an authority’s housing land supply. A transitional arrangement will ensure that decision making on live applications is not affected, avoiding disruption to applications in the system.We are also rewarding local authorities at an advanced stage of plan making. Some local authorities have paused plan making in recent months. That is not good policy, lets communities down and we have warned of the consequences. Local plans at examination, Regulation 18, or Regulation 19 stage with a policy map and proposed allocations towards meeting housing need only have to demonstrate a four-year housing land supply (as opposed to five years) for a period of two years for decision making purposes. That protection is not afforded those who have dragged their feet.And tough measures will bite where local authorities do not have an up-to-date local plan. They will be required to update their supply annually, and if they fail to do so, they will therefore be subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development. Local authorities will have a clearer than ever incentive to get plans in place. Without them, authorities will not be able to control development as their community might wish. There are clear consequences to failing to get a plan in place which delivers a pipeline of new housing.Another way in which consequences are applied in the planning system is through the Housing Delivery Test. This Test is an assessment of an authority’s previous three years of housing delivery, and where there has been under-delivery, consequences follow. Today I am making some changes to these consequences. The 20% buffer an authority needs to add to its housing land supply where housing delivery falls below 85% of its requirement will now only apply to those authorities that do not have an up-to-date plan in place.All authorities will however continue to be subject to the other consequences: producing an Action Plan identifying the reasons for under-delivery and the measures the authority will take to correct it where delivery falls below 95%; and becoming subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development where delivery falls below 75%.In summary, we want to make life easier for those authorities who are doing the right thing, getting their plans in place and delivering housing. But also ensure that authorities that continue to fail their communities on housing delivery are held to account.When it comes to calculating a five-year housing land supply, the Government is clear that we want to bring the position on past oversupply in line with that of past undersupply. We have amended the NPPF to formalise existing planning practice guidance on this topic and will in due course update this guidance to bring the over-supply position in line with under-supply. We will also give further consideration to the proposal to take permissions granted by a local authority into account in the application of the Housing Delivery Test, in particular the operational challenges with doing so identified in the consultation.Neighbourhood Plans  The poor performance of local planning authorities will lead to consequences. But local communities that have worked hard to put neighbourhood plans in place should not be penalised for the failure of their council to ensure an up-to-date local plan. The new NPPF therefore protects neighbourhood plans from speculative development from two to five years, where those plans allocate at least one housing site.Community-Led Housing and Self and Custom Build  The best councils know that driving faster housing delivery requires supporting diversity in the number and type of builders. Councils which support small and medium sized enterprises in the housing market, and which enable custom and self-build homes, drive the necessary increase we need in supply and better ensure the right homes are provided in the right places. The updated NPPF now emphasises the importance of community-led housing development, including by introducing an exception site policy for community-led housing development. Our policy changes also ensure that local authorities should seek opportunities to support small sites to come forward for community-led housing, and self-build and custom build housing. They also encourage ‘permission in principle’ alongside other routes to permission (such as local development orders) to remove barriers for smaller and medium site builders in the planning system.The Government will also encourage the delivery of older people’s housing, including retirement housing, housing-with-care and care homes by requiring these to be specifically considered in establishing need.The Role of Beauty  Building beautifully and refusing ugliness has been central to the Government’s planning reforms, as the right aesthetic form makes development more likely to be welcomed by the community. From today, the NPPF goes further to cement the role of beauty and placemaking in the planning system by expressly using the word ‘beautiful’ in relation to ‘well-designed places’. It also now requires greater ‘visual clarity’ on design requirements set out in planning conditions to provide certainty for those implementing planning permissions and supports gentle density through mansard roof development where appropriate.Environment and energyThe new NPPF also strengthens protections for agricultural land, by being clear that consideration should be given to the availability of agricultural land for food production in development decisions; and supports the Government’s Energy Security Strategy by giving significant weight to the importance of energy efficiency in the adaptation of existing buildings, while protecting heritage. These amendments will not impose any costs on home or building owners.Wider reforms beyond the NPPF  In addition to those policies we have now updated in the NPPF, in December 2022 I also set out ambitions for other housing policies in relation to short-term lets regulations and the character of developers, noting the importance of these issues to communities.On the character of developers, I also set out concerns about examples of how the planning system is undermined by irresponsible developers and landowners who persistently ignore planning rules and fail to deliver legal commitments to the community. I consulted to explore whether an applicant’s past behaviour should be taken into account in decision making either through making irresponsible behaviour a material consideration or allowing local planning authorities to decline applications from applicants with a bad track record. Both options would require primary legislation and therefore are beyond the scope of this NPPF update. I welcome views expressed in the consultation and will consider these carefully in further policy development. To address the concerns and frustrations expressed by communities about breaches of planning control more immediately, I am now implementing the planning enforcement package in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act. This includes extending the time limits to take enforcement action, increasing maximum fines and reducing loopholes to appeal against enforcement action.Finally, I am committed to tackling slow build out rates, recognising that it remains a major concern. I will do so through a consultation on measures to improve build out rates once the Competition and Markets Authority has published its final report as part of their housebuilding market study in 2024.Planning PerformanceWith the updated NPPF now reforming the planning system to take account of the concerns and hopes expressed by locally elected representatives of all parties, it is now up to those who make it work – local authorities, the Planning Inspectorate and statutory consultees – to expedite delivery.My expectations are simple: planning decisions must be taken on time, should be robust in their reasoning, and all authorities must have an up-to-date local plan. After a period of review and reform, local authorities now have certainty, and with that certainty I now expect a higher level of performance.As I said in a letter to all local authorities in September, that means: development should proceed on sites that are allocated in an adopted local plan with full input from the local community unless there are strong reasons why it cannot; councils should be open and pragmatic in agreeing changes to developments where conditions mean that the original plan may no longer be viable, rather than losing the development wholesale or seeing development mothballed; and better use should be made of small pockets of brownfield land by being more permissive, so more homes can be built more quickly, where and how it makes sense, giving more confidence and certainty to SME builders.Today I am going further still, taking steps to improve planning performance on four fronts.Greater Transparency  Being transparent about data improves understanding of relative good and poor performance, and sparks action. That is why we will publish a new local authority performance dashboard in 2024.As part of that reporting, we will expose the way in which some local authorities drag their feet. We will strip out the use of Extension of Time agreements, which currently mask poor performance. While I recognise that there will be instances where such agreements are necessary, I am concerned by the increase in their use – in particular for non-major applications, where the figure has jumped from 9% during the two years to March 2016 to 38% during the two years to March 2022. I therefore intend to consult on constraining their use, including banning them for householder applications, limiting when in the process they can apply, and prohibiting repeat agreements.Additional Financial Support   In recognition that we are expecting better performance from local authorities, we are providing additional resource to help meet those expectations through a range of new funding streams.First, as of 6 December, planning fees have increased by 35% for major applications and 25% for other applications. Local authorities are obliged to spend these fees on planning services, and I am clear there should be no decrease in authorities’ spend on planning from their general fund.Second, following the Chancellor’s boost to the Planning Skills Delivery Fund at the Autumn Statement to a total £29 million, 180 local authorities have today been awarded a share of £14.3 million from the first round of funding. This will better enable them to clear their planning application backlogs and invest in the skills needed to deliver the changes set out in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act.Third, we are establishing our Planning Super Squad members – the new team of leading planners and specialists whose talents will be used to unblock major developments, with £13.5 million to fund their work.Fourth, the Autumn Statement allocated £5 million to support Local Development Orders. These are a powerful way for local authorities to grant planning permission upfront where development meets pre-determined rules, but have been underused. The Government recognises both the different nature of the process for developing a Local Development Order and the loss of fee income could disincentivise take up, and will therefore use this £5 million to support a small number of authorities with exciting proposals to get such Orders in place – and if successful, look to expand this kind of support more widely.Fifth, and demonstrating that we will act to support development where the Opposition seems determined to block it, we are today allocating up-to £57 million to the eight successful bids in the first round of the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund. At the same time, we are confirming that the second round will open for bids in January 2024, and providing a further round of Nutrient Support Funding in the form of £100,000 to the lead local authority for large, affected catchments. The Environment Secretary and I are determined to do more in the new year to unblock these stalled homes, while enhancing public access to nature and leaving our environment in a better state than we found it.Faster Processes Today we also address wider causes of delay in the planning system, with action on statutory consultees, customised arrangements for major applications, and support to prioritise the work of planning committees.On statutory consultees, while the statistics suggest that most do respond within the 21-day limit, the use of holding responses is disguising a process that is too slow. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act makes sure statutory consultees can charge for pre-application advice, which should tackle problems upstream for developers and reduces downstream requests from local authorities.I am however convinced there is more we can do. I am asking Sam Richards to lead a rapid, three-month review into the wider statutory consultee system to understand how best to direct their advice and resources to support speedy and effective decision making. I also expect to see greater discretion and judgement applied by both local authorities and statutory consultees on where advice is sought and where it needs to be offered.On accelerated planning services, which were confirmed in the Autumn Statement, these will build on the existing model of Planning Performance Agreements, which are struck between local authorities and developers, detailing how an application will be handled and what timescales will apply. While we know these agreements work well in some areas, it is also clear that they are used inconsistently – with many developers finding that the payments charged and the level of service offered vary significantly between authorities.We will now look to regularise these arrangements – making sure that they are offered across England, that clear milestones have to be agreed, that fees are set at an appropriate level, and that those fees have to be refunded where milestones are missed. Given the complexity and necessary flexibility that comes with such applications, we will work closely with the sector as we design these arrangements before consulting in the new year.On planning committees, we rightly see elected representatives judge the merits of significant applications – and it is vital that they focus their time on applications that truly merit such scrutiny, and arrive at decisions following legitimate reasoning. On this basis, I have asked the Planning Inspectorate to start reporting to the department about cases where a successful appeal is made against a planning committee decision, and the final decision is the same as the original officer’s recommendation. The overturning of a recommendation made by a professional and specialist officer should be rare and infrequent – such that I have reminded the inspectorate that where it cannot find reasonable grounds for the committee having overturned the officer’s recommendation, it should consider awarding costs to the appellant.I intend to consider what more we can to support planning officers and the committees they serve to focus on the right applications. This might be about providing more training, or using guidance to share best practice on the tools that can help to prioritise a committee’s time – including the schemes of delegation that authorities adopt to determine which applications get determined by officers and which warrant committee airing.Direct Action  Where these expectations for the planning system are not met, I will intervene.I support transferring power to local areas so decisions are taken as close as possible to the areas and people most affected by them. With sharper power, authority and flexibility, however, comes sharper accountability. Where there is failure, and communities are in danger of being let down, the Secretary of State must act.In this spirit, I am issuing a direction to seven of the worst authorities in terms of plan-making, requiring them to publish a plan timetable within 12 weeks of the publication of the new NPPF – and should they fail, I will consider further intervention to ensure a plan is put in place. This does not mean I am not prepared to act elsewhere, and I expect all other authorities to make sure that they have an up-to-date plan timetable in place within the same timeframe, with a copy provided to my department.I have also designated two additional authorities for their poor-decision making performance and intend to review the thresholds for designation to make sure to make sure we are not letting off the hook authorities that should be doing better. The 2022 Housing Delivery Test results will be published today too, with 20 new authorities becoming liable to the presumption in favour of sustainable development.Finally, as the results of the Housing Delivery Test show us, action is required in London, where the homes we need are simply not being built and opportunities for urban brownfield regeneration go begging. The average of 38,000 net additional dwellings over the past three years has considerably undershot the Mayor’s own target in the London Plan.I made clear previously that I want to work with the Mayor, and I still do. But it has become evident that changes to the Plan itself may be needed if our capital is to get the homes its people need to flourish and thrive. Therefore, I am today asking Christopher Katkowski KC, Cllr James Jamieson, Paul Monaghan and Dr Wei Yang to review the London Plan, and identify where changes to policy could speed up the delivery of much needed homes in urban city sites in the heart of the Capital.Reflecting the sincere spirit of partnership that I emphasised in the summer and repeat now, their recommendations will come to me early in the New Year and I will share their report with the Mayor of London. But recognising my responsibilities to the citizens of London, and London’s role in driving growth that benefits the whole country, I stand by what I said in July – that if directing changes becomes necessary, I will do so.CambridgeFinally, I want to provide an update on the Government’s vision for Cambridge 2040. In July, I outlined plans for a new urban quarter – one adjacent to the existing city – with beautiful Neo-classical buildings, rich parkland, concert halls and museums providing homes for thousands. This would be accompanied by further, ambitious, development around and in the city to liberate its potential with tens of thousands of new homes.In the intervening months, Peter Freeman, the Chair of the Cambridge Delivery Group, has been developing our vision for the city, in collaboration with a whole host of local leaders and representatives. I am clear that delivering our vision means laying the groundwork for the long-term, and that starts now.We plan to establish a new development corporation for Cambridge, which we will arm with the right leadership and full range of powers necessary to marshal this huge project over the next two decades, regardless of the shifting sands of Westminster.We recognise the scale of development we are talking about will require support from across the public and private sectors, to realise our level of ambition.And we must also ensure we have an approach towards water that reflects the nature of Cambridge’s geography. So today I am also announcing that we will review building regulations in Spring next year to allow local planning authorities to introduce tighter water efficiency standards in new homes. In the meantime, in areas of serious water stress, where water scarcity is inhibiting the adoption of Local Plans or the granting of planning permission for homes, I encourage local planning authorities to work with the Environment Agency and delivery partners to agree standards tighter than the 110 litres per day that is set out in current guidance.A copy of the updated National Planning Policy Framework and associated documents have been placed in the libraries of both houses. Following the judgment in the Court of Appeal in the case of Smith v SSLUHC & Ors, the Government is reverting the definition of Gypsies and Travellers used in the Planning Policy for Travellers Sites to that adopted in 2012, with this change applying from today for plan and decision making. The Government intends to review this area of policy and case law in 2024. The revised definition has been published on gov.uk.

Freeports Update

Jacob Young: Today, I am pleased to announce the publication of the Freeports Delivery Roadmap, a cross-Government blueprint for accelerating and amplifying the delivery of our flagship Freeports programme.Building on recent successes for the Freeports programme – including the announcement that nearly £3 billion has already been invested in Freeports, creating over 6,000 jobs – the Roadmap sets out a range of areas in which Departments will go further in supporting Freeports to create investable sites, land investment, and build clusters and durable local economic growth. It therefore focuses on all stages of Freeport delivery, from securing investment to translating this into tangible, positive impacts for local communities.This is on top of the recent announcement of an extension of the window to claim tax reliefs in English Freeports, from five to ten years (subject to the agreement of delivery plans with each Freeport), and a new £150 million Investment Opportunity Fund to support Investment Zones and Freeports across the UK to secure business investment opportunities.The Government will also work with the devolved administrations to agree how the ten year window to claim reliefs can be extended to Freeports in Scotland and Wales.In sum, the Government is backing Freeports: we are doing everything in our power to deliver these new clusters in sectors of the future, thereby creating sustainable, high-quality jobs for communities across the UK.I will place a copy of the Freeports Delivery Roadmap in the Libraries of the House.

Intergovernmental Relations Quarterly Transparency Report: 1 July - 30 September 2023

Felicity Buchan: Today, the Government published the third Quarterly Report for 2023 of our engagement with the devolved administrations on GOV.UK.This Report covers the engagement between the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive between 1 July - 30 September 2023. During this reporting period the administrations worked together on a number of key areas such as energy security, preparations for COP28, and continued support for the NHS. This reporting continues to highlight how, through our collective work, we demonstrate a stronger ability to face and tackle the big challenges.The Report is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to transparency of intergovernmental relations to Parliament and the public. The Government will continue with publications to demonstrate transparency in intergovernmental relations.A copy of the Report will be placed in the Libraries of each House.

Department for Business and Trade

.India Trade Negotiations Update

Greg Hands: The thirteenth round of UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations began on 18 September and concluded on 15 December. During the round, negotiations took place in both London and Delhi in a hybrid fashion. As with Round 12, negotiations in this round were focussed on issues including goods, services, and investment. The UK-India trade relationship was worth £38.3 billion in the 12 months to June 2023. A balanced deal which respects the domestic sensitives of both sides will strengthen the economic links between the UK and India, can boost the UK economy and bring benefits to UK businesses, families and consumers. We will not compromise on our high environmental and labour protections, public health, animal welfare and food standards, and we will maintain our right to regulate in the public interest. We are also clear that in this negotiation, as with all our FTA negotiations, the NHS and the services it provides are not on the table. Any agreement will be consistent with the points-based immigration system, and there are no plans to change our immigration policy.. The UK and India will continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious Free Trade Agreement. The fourteenth round of negotiations will take place in January 2024. The Government will continue to keep Parliament updated as these negotiations progress.

Post Office Limited: Additional Funding Update

Kevin Hollinrake: In October, I announced that the Government intends to provide additional funding to Post Office to meet the costs of participating in the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and delivering compensation to postmasters. These activities are part of Post Office’s response to the Horizon IT Scandal, which arose following the installation of the Horizon software in the late 1990s. I also announced that the Government intends to provide additional funding to help with the development of the replacement for the Horizon IT system and to ensure Horizon is maintained while that replacement is rolled out.In accordance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022, the Department for Business and Trade’s assessment of the funding’s compliance with the subsidy control principles was subject to referral to the Subsidy Advice Unit. A report for each referral was published by the Subsidy Advice Unit, which concluded that the Department had “conducted an assessment which considers the subsidy’s compliance with the subsidy control principles in line with the Statutory Guidance”. The reports for both the Inquiry and compensation delivery subsidy and the IT subsidy can be found here and here, respectively.In October, I committed to confirm final levels of funding to the House at the earliest opportunity. Following the publication of the reports by the Subsidy Advice Unit and the conclusion of the subsequent ‘cooling-off’ period, I can now confirm that the Department for Business and Trade has agreed to provide £150m to Post Office for Inquiry and compensation delivery costs and £103m for IT costs in the 2023/34 and 2024/25 financial years.

Ministry of Justice

Chief Coroner’s eighth and ninth annual reports to the Lord Chancellor

Mike Freer: I am pleased to lay and publish the Chief Coroner’s combined eighth and ninth annual reports to the Lord Chancellor on the operation of coroner services under section 36 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (‘the 2009 Act’). The joint report covers both 2021 and 2022. The joint report has been produced to cover the crucial work being done across the coroner service, and by the Chief Coroner himself, during the latter part of the pandemic period and, thereafter, to support recovery plans. It also provides an opportunity to align the reporting cycle with the preceding calendar year and, therefore, with related reporting processes such as the annual Coroner Statistics publication. In particular, the Chief Coroner’s report sets out:The work that he, as well as coroners, their officers and their staff have undertaken to manage the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic;The continuing work to promote consistency in the resourcing of, and practices in, coroner’s offices across England and Wales;The training and guidance that coroners and their officers have received and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders; andRecommendations to improve coroner services further.The Annex to the report sets out, for 2021 and 2022, the number of cases by coroner area that have lasted over 12 months.I am very grateful to His Honour Judge Thomas Teague KC for the work he has done over the reporting period in guiding and supporting coroners through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, building upon the work of his predecessor, His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC. I am particularly grateful for his work with local coroner areas on the post-pandemic recovery of the coroner system.I am grateful, too, to all coroners and their officers and other staff, for supporting the Chief Coroner and HM Government to improve services for the bereaved, and for their valued frontline work.The report will be available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-coroners-combined-annual-reports-2021-to-2022.

Department for Education

Education Funding Update

Damian Hinds: Today the Department for Education has published local authorities’ Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations for schools, high needs and early years revenue funding for 2024-25, as well as confirming schools’ pupil premium funding rates for 2024-25.Core schools funding in England will increase by over £1.8 billion in 2024-25 compared to the previous financial year. This follows the 16% increase (over £7.9 billion) in funding from 2021-22 to 2023-24. School funding will be at its highest ever level in real terms per pupil by 2024-25, totalling over £59.6 billion.Together, these publications confirm the funding increases that each local authority will see next financial year, reflecting the investment made in our education system in the 2021 Spending Review and the subsequent additional funding announced in last year’s Autumn Statement.Mainstream school funding in the DSG will increase nationally by 2% per pupil in 2024-25, compared to 2023-24. Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay, overall mainstream schools funding will increase by 2.6%. This follows the 5.6% year-on-year per pupil increase we delivered in 2023-24.The extra funding we announced in July to support mainstream and special schools with the costs of the 2023 teachers’ pay award will continue to be provided alongside, and in addition to, the DSG in 2024-25.High needs funding will increase to over £10.5 billion in 2024-25, a 4.3% increase compared to this year, and an increase of over 60% over the past 5 years. Every local authority will receive an increase in funding of at least 3% per head (of their population aged 2-18). This will help local authorities and schools with the costs of supporting children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities.Pupil premium funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in 2024-25, an increase of £80 million from 2023-24. This represents a 10% increase in per pupil rates from 2021-22 to 2024-25.The indicative allocations for early years revenue funding in 2024-25 total £6.1 billion. These include funding for the expanded offers for eligible children aged two and under.The Dedicated Schools Grant allocations will be made available today at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025

Schools and Colleges Update

Gillian Keegan: I have been working closely with my Right Honourable Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities, on guidance for schools and colleges where a child is questioning their gender. Schools and colleges have been left in a position where they are having to navigate this highly sensitive, complex issue, which is still not properly understood. We appreciate how daunting this is for school and college staff and for parents and children too. The aim of the guidance is to provide clarity for schools and colleges, and reassurance for parents. We will be today publishing the draft guidance for consultation.The guidance covers how schools and colleges should respond when parents and children ask them to accommodate a child who is questioning their gender. This has been linked to gender identity ideology, the belief that a person can have a ‘gender’, whether male (or ‘man’), female (or ‘woman’), or ‘other’, that is different to their biological sex. Such accommodation may mean a request to take actions such as changing names, uniforms, or using different facilities to help a child appear more like they are the opposite sex, with the expectation that they will be treated as if they are. This is often referred to as social transitioning.This guidance is based on a set of five general principles that schools and colleges can use to frame their response to such requests.Schools and colleges have statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. They should consider how best to fulfil that duty towards the child who is making such a request and their peers, ensuring that any agreed course of action is in all of their best interests. This may or may not be the same as a child’s wishes. Knowing a child’s sex is critical to a school’s or college’s safeguarding duties.Schools and colleges should be respectful and tolerant places where bullying is never tolerated. Staff and children should treat each other with ​​compassion and consideration, in accordance with the ethos of the school or college.Parents should not be excluded from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to ‘socially transition’. Where a child requests action from a school or college in relation to any degree of social transition, schools and colleges should engage parents as a matter of priority, and encourage the child to speak to their parents, other than in the exceptionally rare circumstances where involving parents would constitute a significant risk of harm to the child.Schools and colleges have specific legal duties that are framed by a child’s biological sex. While legislation exists that allows adults to go through a process to change their legal sex, children’s legal sex is always the same as their biological sex.There is no general duty to allow a child to ‘social transition’. The Cass Review’s interim report is clear that social transition is not a neutral act, and that better information is needed about the outcomes for children who undertake degrees of social transition. If a school decides to accommodate a request, a cautious approach should be taken that complies with legal duties. Some forms of social transition will not be compatible with a school’s statutory responsibilities.Dr Cass is clear that social transition is not a neutral act, and that better information is needed about the outcomes for children who undertake degrees of social transition. This means that schools and colleges should take a cautious approach and that decisions should not be taken in haste or without the involvement of parents.We are now consulting on this guidance and welcome responses from the likes of parents, teachers, headteachers, pupils and clinicians. Nothing is more important than keeping children safe and I am grateful to all those who will help us to get this right.We are also aware that many schools and colleges have commenced their Christmas break this week and so there is no immediate action to be taken now. We welcome your engagement and responses to the consultation from the New Year. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and will close on March 12th 2024.A copy of the guidance will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

The 2022 Government Chemist Review

Andrew Griffith: The twenty-sixth Annual Review of the Government Chemist has been received. The Review will be placed in the Libraries of the House plus those of the Devolved Administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland. The Review will also be laid before the Scottish Parliament. The Government Chemist is the Referee Analyst named in Acts of Parliament. The Government Chemist’s team carry out metrology analysis in legally disputed cases. A range of referee analysis work was carried out during 2022, which included evaluations of kitchen utensils for primary aromatic amines, scrutinising pesticide protection measurements for tea and flaxseed imports, and detection of aflatoxin in in-shell peanuts and curry powder. The Government Chemist continues to work closely with government departments, their governance group, Devolved Administrations, Non-Governmental Organisations, and industry to identify tools, standards, and guidance to facilitate effective testing for food fraud and to grow knowledge transfer activities.

Home Office

UK-US Data Access Agreement: first year of use

Tom Tugendhat: The first duty of any government is to keep the United Kingdom and its people safe. As the department responsible for public safety and national security, one of our key priorities is ensuring our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have access to the tools, capabilities and data they need to ensure public safety. The ground-breaking UK-US Data Access Agreement (“the Agreement”) is one of these tools. The Agreement allows UK agencies to submit requests for content of communications directly to communications service providers, including social media platforms and messaging services, located in the United States. This must be for the purpose of investigating, preventing, detecting, and prosecuting serious crime. This has allowed our agencies access to more data, more quickly than ever before. Since the Agreement entered into force in October 2022, the UK has made more than 10,000 requests to these US companies. All of these requests have provided UK Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies with critical data to tackle the most serious crimes facing UK citizens including terrorism; child sexual exploitation; drug trafficking; and organised crime. The direct benefits derived from data provided under the Agreement to UK agencies have been across the full spectrum of serious crime. This has included:identifying the location of illegal firearms suppliers and their locations for storing weapons. This led to arrests and also the seizure of cash and heroin found at the same site;supporting high priority child sexual exploitation investigations, which has resulted in the safeguarding of vulnerable children from harm and the arrest of those suspected of committing offences against children;providing UK law enforcement with the information to locate and arrest an individual suspected of murder who had been attempting to abscond from the UK;identifying a boat being used to traffic Class A drugs, leading to the seizure of over 1.5 tonnes of Class A drugs;enabling the investigation of an Organised Crime Group engaged in the laundering of cash obtained through the sale of non-duty paid alcohol in the UK; andadvancing broader law enforcement operations linked to preventing gang violence and the purchase and supply of illegal firearms. These outcomes would not have been possible without the critical data provided under the Agreement. It is clear that the access to data the Agreement provides is crucial in protecting our children and the wider public from harm. My officials will continue to work closely with operational partners over the coming years to maximise the benefits the Agreement provides and ensure HMG is able to continue to protect the public and keep the country safe. I also welcome continued engagement and support from the communications service providers on this important issue.

Update on beneficial ownership transparency in the Crown Dependencies (CDs)

Tom Tugendhat: Illicit finance is an active and growing threat to the national security of the UK family. As set out earlier this year in the UK’s second Economic Crime Plan, illicit finance fuels serious and organised crime, threatens our institutions, and enables kleptocrats to establish a financial foothold. That is why in 2016 the UK set up our own publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership, the People with Significant Control (PSCs) register, which was the first of its kind in the world. Seven years later many other countries and jurisdictions around the world have joined us. We are still working with others to achieve this aim. The UK and Crown Dependencies (CDs) have a history of working together as partners to strengthen our economic defences against illicit finance. Publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership are an essential tool in this fight. In 2019, the Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Isle of Man (the Crown Dependencies) committed to implement publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership in line with the principles adopted by the European Union. In December 2022, following the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the CDs issued a statement announcing that they were pausing work on their public commitments while they sought legal advice. According to Transparency International, we understand 14 EU Member States have maintained public access to their beneficial ownership registers. Gibraltar has also maintained a publicly accessible beneficial ownership register since 2020 and has not noted any negative economic impacts resulting from implementation of its public register. The UK is satisfied with the lawfulness of our own publicly accessible registers and continues to believe that the CDs could legally implement public registers of their own. The Home Office has been actively engaging the CDs to understand their position. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Americas, Caribbean and the Overseas Territories (David Rutley), set out in the backbench business debate on 7 December, there have been discussions with the CDs on providing access to beneficial ownership information to those with a legitimate interest, such as media and civil society organisations who are involved in the fight against illicit finance and money laundering. Legitimate interest access would bring the CDs into line with the EU, where the CJEU judgment notes that EU Member States must continue to enable access to those with ‘legitimate interest’. For the CDs to implement legitimate interest access would be a very significant step forward in beneficial ownership transparency and improve the security of the UK and the wider British family. Nevertheless, the UK Government is still committed to publicly accessible registers becoming the global norm. The Home Office has made our expectations clear that the CDs should implement registers with legitimate interest access in the coming year. On 13 December, the CDs published their commitments on beneficial ownership transparency. The CDs state they will deliver obliged entity access (such as financial services business and certain other businesses in their jurisdictions who are required to conduct due diligence) during 2024. I consider delivering obliged entity access across the CDs has been slower than it should be given the need to protect our financial institutions from use by hostile states, terrorists and criminals. This recognition of commitment is still welcome. I welcome the CDs’ press release, stating their commitment to developing and delivering legitimate interest access to their beneficial ownership registers, confirming that access to the information on their registers ‘will be extended to include those media and civil society organisations who can demonstrate a legitimate interest in accessing relevant information in order to combat financial crime’. I look forward to seeing this commitment being adopted by the appropriate CD parliaments. The CDs have said their definition of legitimate interest access will be developed having due regard to international good practice, including finalisation of the EU’s Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (6AMLD) which is anticipated in early 2024, as well as in line with relevant European judgments such as the 2022 CJEU ruling. The CDs also note that the EU negotiating text for 6AMLD recognises groups who may have a legitimate interest as being those ‘conducting business transactions, civil society, journalists, law enforcement and higher education’. The CDs state they will present proposals to their parliaments for agreement on the definition and implementation of legitimate interest by Q4 2024 at the latest. Given the original commitments were made in 2019 and the increasing use of finance to coordinate action against the interests of the British people and the wider British family, this is not the pace that I expect, and I urge the CDs to work as quickly as possible next year to implement these commitments. Parliament will wish to consider these commitments and closely monitor the situation.